For this CognitiveSEO review, we tested the platform’s versatility. CognitiveSEO shines when dealing with link building, content marketing, and organic ranking optimization and is incredibly cool when used for the technicalities of SEO. We loved the details in the website analysis, but what we loved even more was CognitiveSEO’s reporting tool, which sends out alerts for any potential ranking changes.
Pros
- This is a highly responsive toolset for content optimization with actionable recommendations
- Offers efficient auditing on sites
- You get access to training, case studies and one-on-one assistance
- Great at finding negative SEO attacks
- It’s comprehensive in its reporting
- Wonderful at detecting subtle changes in SEO parameters
- Customizable white-label reports
Cons
- It could be a little tricky to learn, definably not for newbies
- The user interface feels a little old-school and clunky
- It is not the most affordable option, but it is packed full of useful tools
Overview
CognitiveSEO is a complete solution for digital marketing. It provides an in-depth website analysis, pinpoints SEO issues, and gives users recommendations for fixing problems. The tool suite is packed with features that can be used to audit websites, understand content performance, and monitor local and global rankings. For this CognitiveSEO review, we played around with the backlink checker and dove into the penalty recovery function.
While there are more affordable options, it packs a punch. If you’re looking for a full-suite platform to help your website rank better, you may just have found it in CognitiveSEO. Getting around the technical aspects of the platform might be more challenging for some, but the one-on-one onboarding offered more than makes up for it.
Pricing & Plans
CognitiveSEO pricing depends on the package selected. You can try the tool with a 7-day free trial, but it’s necessary to enter your banking details (card or PayPal).
Each subscription has standard monthly payment options, or you can pick to pay yearly and save 30% compared to the given price. Here’s what you can expect from each CognitiveSEO premium plan:
Starter Plan
The Starter Plan costs $129.99 monthly and supports up to five campaigns. You receive 200,000 inbound link analyses and 150 content optimization audits. Up to two users can use the platform.
Premium Plan
For $299 monthly, you get a million inbound link analyses and 500 content optimization audits. Up to five users can access CognitiveSEO, and this plan also unlocks white label reports and JavaScript crawling. As a bonus, you get a customer success manager to help you set up and manage your account.
Elite Plan
It’s great for big enterprises and agencies since it supports up to ten users. CognitiveSEO Elite plan supports 3,000,000 backlink analyses and 1,000 content optimization audits per cycle. The subscription costs $499 monthly.
CognitiveSEO Features
CognitiveSEO is a full tool suite, and the features we examined for this CognitiveSEO review are full of hidden gems that make SEO optimization easy. The features are easily customized onto your dashboard ensuring that you have access to only the data you need.
Content Optimization
Content optimization is improving web-based content so that it is more engaging to readers and appealing to search engines. CognitiveSEO promises to help users create optimized content by using Natural Language Processing (NLP). The content created in the tool is relevant to search engines and readers.
For this review of CognitiveSEO, we played around with a few keywords and found that the feature works quickly and is relatively easy to grasp. CognitiveSEO came back with effective results. We loved that it estimated how difficult creating content around the keyword would be.
While conducting the review about CognitiveSEO, we were also able to find related keywords using the Keyword Explorer. This function also gave us a first-hand look at the competition we faced with our selected words in the efficient Ranking Analysis tab. CognitiveSEO then measures link and content difficulty based on the chosen keyword and ranks it against the top 10 competitor sites.
CognitiveSEO recommends the number of links you must include to rank above the competition when looking at link difficulty. Content Difficulty, on the other hand, ranks how your content stands up against others and recommends a minimum score to outrank others with the specific keyword. During this CognitiveSEO review, we found that the feature can be used in many languages and is excellent for optimizing new and already written content through advanced machine learning to analyze other content published about the desired topic.
CognitiveSEO has a Content Performance rating. It will analyze how relevant and optimized your article is for the analyzed keyword. The readability score uses the Flesch-Kincaid scale, which is famous in the industry. The platform will also analyze keyword stuffing to warn you about phrases that you’ve used too many times in the text. Overall, it might not be as feature-rich as with some other tools, but CognitiveSEO content optimization tool can be very helpful.
Site Audit
Anyone who runs a business needs to ensure that their website works well. Websites that do not work well and those with issues can lead to frustration for potential clients. For example, if a website loads too slowly, potential clients may not wait around for it to load and will rather visit a competition’s site. Roughly the same thing happens when a search engine picks up that a site is running or loading slowly; it will divert traffic to more user-friendly sites.
Businesses need to run regular audits on websites to ensure that they function correctly. Audits of a site will show businesses which of their web-based components are not working correctly. Some key components affecting website functions include outdated imagery and videos, keyword adjustments, keyphrase adjustments and broken links.
The site audit feature is the pinnacle of perfection in the CognitiveSEO suite. Agencies and individuals can all benefit from this all-in-one feature in the Cognitive toolset. The site audit tool conducts a technical audit to detect off and on-page issues that hamper a website’s performance.
Before we started this CognitiveSEO review, we were told that the site audit tool could resolve many issues, and it performed as promised. We used the tool to conduct regular maintenance on one of our sites. We entered the domain in the tool, and it crawled the site for problems. It searched for broken links, Malware threats, missing and incorrect tags, overall site speed, and incorrect AMP implementation.
On the tested site, it picked up that we had duplicated content, and there were issues with site load times, broken images, Javascript files, and XML Sitemap problems. Using the tool was easy, and the results were prioritized and categorized to be easily fixed. We especially enjoyed the data set provided, and this will be immensely useful to anyone in the SEO game.
This suite is a must today when search engines are constantly evolving. The in-depth site audits we found during this CognitiveSEO review compare a targeted site with Google’s algorithmic fluctuations. It also monitors the Google SERP in real-time to give users the latest overall SERP performance alongside their Google ranking.
Here are some of the things CognitiveSEO will look for during a site audit:
- Content duplication
- Thin content
- Threats of Malware
- Broken Links
- Incorrect hreflang tags
- Website loading speed
- Incorrect AMP implementation
- Implementation issues with HTTP codes
- Missing anchor texts
Backlink Analysis
Backlinks are one of the most critical elements of any website and essential for any SEO. These are the links from other sites which point users to your site. Search engines see backlinks as an authority and that your site is of high quality. The higher the number of backlinks from reputable sites, the higher your site will rank in the SERP. Building links requires an understanding of all links on and to your page, and this is where a backlink analysis comes in.
A backlink analysis provides an evaluation of the quality and volume of links that point back to your site. When the links are analyzed, it helps users understand the impact they have on search engine results and what can be done to improve their current results by eliminating bad or spammy links.
When we heard all the great things from other CognitiveSEO reviews, about the versatility of the backlinking analysis, we were excited to try the feature out.
It is critical to use analytics software to weed out low-quality links regularly. For this review of CognitiveSEO, we used the backlink analysis in two ways. First, we put it through a pressure test using a test site to see how it would function, and then we used the tool to check out a few competitor websites.
In both tests, it performed robustly, delivering extensive results. We could see our test site’s link history, and included in this was the referring domain. We were shown the top linked pages and where we had lost links. When we analyzed our competitor’s page for this CognitiveSEO review, we could see where they had received their links. Overall, we were impressed and found that the tool is comprehensive in its reporting, delivers desired results and is pretty straightforward to operate.
Here is a quick overview of exactly what the backlink tool is capable of:
- Detect and remove spam links
- Alerts for new and lost links
- Link-building insights for any other site
- Identify new link-building opportunities
CognitiveSEO will analyze the links and determine if they are dofollow or nofollow. It offers anchor text analysis, which can be convenient. You can analyze your competitors’ link strategy to see if you can use any idea or if there’s anything that requires your attention.
The graphical presentation is simple but understandable. That’s important for beginners, but it also matters to experienced users. You won’t waste time getting used to CognitiveSEO – from the moment you begin using the backlink analysis feature, you’ll feel right at home with it.
The statistics shown include daily new and lost links, and you can see an overview for previous days, which is convenient. Top-linked pages with the number of referring domains and links are shown in a table. You’ll also see charts with the in-content distribution, which show the percentage of backlinks in (or not in) content.
Finally, there’s a CognitiveSEO domain authority pie chart. It shows the percentages of links with high, good, average, low, or no authority. Building quality backlinks is crucial, so these statistics can be important for SEO experts.
Penalty Recovery
Have you ever wondered why some of your pages perform worse than others? An easy answer could be that you have received a penalty. Penalties happen either manually or as a result of a core Google update. Either way, penalties, when given, need to be addressed quickly. Other CognitiveSEO reviews claimed that the penalty recovery tool could help identify unnatural links that caused the penalty in the first place.
When we tested the feature, it showed us where our unnatural linking problems were. We were then able to disavow the links as they appeared, and it’s possible to do this with multiple links in seconds. As a bonus, you can set up alerts whenever an unnatural link appears. Overall, the tool will save anyone in SEO a great deal of time.
Rank Tracker
Rank tracking simply means tracking how URLs rank in search engines. URLs are tracked over a period of time to find out if SEO optimization on sites is working or not. Why is this done? Knowing how a site has ranked over time can help a business or SEO specialist understand what content should be used to boost rankings and organic traffic.
The rank tracker feature on CognitiveSEO shows a designated site’s performance on mobile and desktop devices. It additionally tracks keywords, language, and locations, all to the benefit of local SEO campaigns. We loved that while using the tool for this CognitiveSEO review, we were also given suggested keywords to monitor for our campaign.
We were given accurate data and were able to set real-time alerts for potential ranking drops. When we set out to review CognitiveSEO, we knew we wanted to test this feature with the content optimizer, and it worked brilliantly. We optimized selected content and tracked rank improvements. While the results were not instant, we did pick up improvements from where the content ranked before we fully optimized it.
CognitiveSEO also offers a SERP Ranking Tool which not only allows users to track how their site is ranking but also how their competitors are faring. The keyword position tracker returns concise data on competitor sites to see their ranking strategies. For our CognitiveSEO review, we paired the feature with the Content Optimizer to search for new keyword opportunities. This is a great strategy for those looking to outrank a competitor.
Regarding the delivery of rank tracking reports, CognitiveSEO allows users to customize and fully white-label their reports. Including a personalized logo is important if you want clients to remember who you are. Add to this that reports are also fully customizable, and you have a power tool that you can fully personalize to suit your needs and those of your clients. We agree with many other CognitiveSEO reviews, that this is one of the strongest features in the tool suite.
SEO Dashboard
While writing this, CognitiveSEO review, we found the SEO Dashboard intuitive and responsive. It does throw out a lot of data, which can be overwhelming, but CognitiveSEO has you covered. The feature is easy to use. It provides all of the relevant data right where you need it. Moving between projects and campaigns was effortless. We loved that everything you could look for was right there in one place.
Under the campaign summary, you’ll find an overview of all the information from campaigns and project input into the platform. What’s more, the entire dashboard is fully customizable. Users have over 35 metrics to choose from, which helps take the overwhelming out of optimizing content and sites. Once customized, only essential data is shown.
The customization feature was designed to take the guesswork out of monitoring sites. We were excited to see from other CognitiveSEO reviews that this function speeds up the process while still providing a comprehensive site overview. We couldn’t agree more, we loved that the dashboard was easily shared for tracking ongoing campaigns. It also provides real-time metrics allowing teams to decide instantly when a campaign is going well and when it isn’t.
CognitiveSEO makes it simple to share the dashboard with other team members or your clients. You can set the dashboard to be read-only for your clients. That means they can be familiar with the marketing campaign’s progress at all times, but there’s no danger they can disrupt your dashboard in any way. The sharing feature is perfect for SEO teams and those who work with clients who prefer real-time reporting.
Marketing Reports
If you want to make it in the SEO game, you need to be able to deliver comprehensive marketing reports. CognitiveSEO features a fully customizable solution. While researching for this CognitiveSEO review, we found that reports could quickly be scheduled and automatically sent out to clients. You can choose when and how often to send the reports. Reports can even be sent daily for some topics, weekly for others and comprehensively for monthly reports.
Having less to worry about when you’re dealing with massive marketing campaigns is always a bonus in our books. CognitiveSEO seamlessly integrates with Google Analytics to produce one single report that features every KPI set out for campaigns. The feature also includes the ability to create custom reports. This is perfect for anyone tires of the standard boiler plate report options.
While we were writing this review about CognitiveSEO, we played around the tool’s functionality and effortlessly compiled a report with an ideal overview of only the critical problematic areas for a client. The platform was super easy to use, and the reports were even more accessible to read. The key behind this is the widget-driven user interface. Users can add their unique touch to white-label reports, including personal branding.
SEO API
One of the most remarkable features on CognitiveSEO’s list of helpful tools is its integrated API. Like other CognitiveSEO reviews, we used it to track keyword rankings, identify content with a high share rate, and discover lost links. It can also be used to run in-depth link audits, discover new links, re-crawl all the links of a site, and so much more. As with many other APIs, data is returned in JSON format for easy analysis on either the client-side or the server-side.
Conclusion
Overall, CognitiveSEO packs a powerful punch. It can deliver on all SEO aspects of digital marketing and content creation. When the creative team behind CognitiveSEO said it’s an “all-in-one” solution, they meant it. Yes, there are more affordable CognitiveSEO alternatives, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find an option that does as much. There are several features of CognitiveSEO, including the backlink analysis, which may put competitors out of business.
Quick Questions
What is CognitiveSEO?
CognitiveSEO is an SEO marketing solution created by Razvan Gavrilas in 2010. The full-featured suite is a powerful one-stop shop for anyone dealing in digital marketing. The platform offers a complete range of features to help marketers, creatives and site owners check backlinks, check local SEO, audit sites, and so much more.
How to use CognitiveSEO?
To get started, create a free account on CognitiveSEO and begin by setting up a campaign. CognitiveSEO offers step-by-step guidance. From here, you can discover keywords, track rankings and work through broken links. Once you’re done, put everything into a report, customize it to your liking and send it off.
What is Cognitive SEO used for?
CognitiveSEO is a Search Engine Optimization suite that helps users ensure their websites perform better to achieve higher rankings on search engines like Google.
How much is CognitiveSEO?
CognitiveSEO offers a 7-day free trial for new users. The paid plans start at $129.99 monthly for the Starter Plan, which includes up to five campaigns and two users. For $299, users can unlock the Premium Plan, which allows five users and up to ten campaigns, as well as white label reports.
On the Elite Plan, up to ten users get access and it’s possible to create 25 campaigns. The cost is $499 monthly.